Alcala completes summer hat-trick with big handicap victory

Alcala completed a summer hat-trick by holding off Wadswick Court in a thrilling Summer Plate for Paul Nicholls and Sam Twiston-Davies.

Sent off at 9-1, the seven-year-old grey travelled like a dream throughout and pounced on the Peter Bowen-trained bottomweight just before the last before staying on gamely to win by three-quarters of a length.

Winner of two chases in June, when he beat a combined six runners, the race-fit son of Turgeon handled the step up in class in fine style and provided Twiston-Davies a second winner in the contest in the last five years after his success on Bobowen in 2013.

'He produced it'

Twiston-Davies said: "It's always a competitive race and we were worried he had gone up too much for his two wins, but I got into a nice rhythm, he jumps well and gets the trip well.

"He had the advantage of big-field experience in his days as a hurdler as he'd run well in races like the EBF Final and the Fixed Brush Hurdle. We knew he would need a career best to win it and luckily he produced it."

The well-backed Shelford, who was sent off as the 5-1 favourite, was under pressure from a long way out but stayed on well to finish third for Dan and Harry Skelton, winners of the race last year with Long House Hall.

Alcala, who has previously finished placed in Grade 3 company, is now a 33-1 shot for the BetVictor Gold Cup with Paddy Power but Harry Derham, assistant to Paul Nicholls indicated that the Galway Plate on August 2 looks his next likely target.

Result and analysis